Former political prisoner Vyachaslau Kasinerau has been charged under Part 1 of Article 339 of the Criminal Code (hooliganism).
The case was initiated by the Investigative Committee. The activist is currently serving 15 days of arrest for participation in a protest on February 17 in Minsk.
The police officers claim that on March 12 Kasinerau and members of the Black Rose anarchist group staged a performance action against police lawlessness. The activists threw a noose around the neck of a recently erected monument to a policeman near the Interior Ministry HQ in Minsk.
Viachaslau Kasinerau may face imprisonment for up to three years, or arrest for up to six months.
In February-March, there has been an eruption of protesting the so-called ‘parasite’ law in Belarus. Hundreds Belarusians were detained, fined, jailed after recent non-parasite marches. Most of them were accused of violating the order of holding mass events and disobedience to police officers’ demands. It should be noted that plainclothes policemen who refuse to show their IDs a or introduce themselves often beat people and prevented journalists from performing their professional duties.
As reported earlier, more pieces of street art have appeared in Minsk after Saturday’s police crackdown on protesters.
Belarus police against Belarusians: Brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Minsk (ENG video)
On March 25, the Minsk riot police brutally dispersed the protest against the so-called tax on ‘spongers’ introduced by president Alyaksandr Lukashenka in 2015. Even women, elderly people, journalists and ordinary passers-by – were arrested, battered and jailed. It is noteworthy that the protesters also planned a peaceful celebration of Freedom Day. It is an unofficial holiday commemorating the establishment of the first Belarusian nation-state, the Belarusian People’s Republic, on March 25, 1918.
belsat.eu, following spring96.org
